Draco and Astoria's Infinite Playlist
by rainbowspring
Summary: Inspired by though not solely based off of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Draco Malfoy meets Astoria Greengrass at a pub a few years after the war and is in for an evening that neither of them will forget.
1. A Bizzare Request

**Warning: This contains spoilers for DH. Also, for readers of any of my other HP fanfics, this does not connect to any of those, although they are available on my profile for anyone who's interested. By the way, I made Astoria three years younger than Draco here even though in the canon she is two years younger than him so that this way I could include names of students in Astoria's year, being as they appear in the story, and in the canon we don't know many students from Astoria's year. Now, please enjoy the story! :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this story. Nor do I own the book and movie this story was inspired by.**

Draco and Astoria's Infinite Playlist Chapter 1: A Bizarre Request

Draco Malfoy had kept to himself for the past four years; no one wanted to associate with him much since Voldemort had lost the war. Draco had been able to get off with no charges despite being a Death Eater, due to his mother switching sides at the last second, but that did not necessarily mean that the Malfoys had as much popularity or were as high in society as they used to be.

Draco still lived with his parents at Malfoy Manor, but he tried to get out of the house whenever he could. These days, it seemed like all he ever did was go to various bars and pubs and reflect on where he went wrong in his life and ponder unanswerable questions. He hadn't become an alcoholic though; he had considered simply drowning his sorrows in firewhiskey, but he had seen his father do this after the Malfoys lost their standing and decided against it; his mother had enough on her hands at the moment with his father, and he wasn't going to cause her any more trouble.

That's not to say he never had a drink or two when he went out because he did, just never enough to get drunk.

Draco was currently having a glass of Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks. He remembered coming to The Three Broomsticks when he was a student at Hogwarts. He had loads of pleasant memories of this place, although he hadn't been here in years. Maybe that's why he came tonight; it was a place of happy memories on a night where people would be both celebrating and mourning.

Tonight was the four year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. People took off from work, students had off from school, and it seemed as if pubs and bars all over the world were holding celebrations. It seemed wrong for him to stay cooped up at home when the rest of the world was celebrating, it would give the impression that the Malfoys were not pleased about Voldemort' death which was exactly the opposite of how they felt. And if he had to go someplace, he decided that he should go to a place where he remembered being happy.

It was now 7:00 p.m. Draco was finishing his meal by himself in a corner of the room when the door opened and a few occupants appearing to be in their late teens entered the room. He watched them, wondering what would have happened if he had joined the other side in the war, when one of them walked over to him.

The girl had curly raven hair and light, lima bean green eyes that looked very familiar to Draco. She was olive-skinned, tall, and slender, with a light dusting of freckles if one looked closely.

"Hi, um, would you please be my boyfriend for five minutes?"

"What?" Draco said uncharacteristically, due to his surprise that the girl had been talking to him- something that rarely happened anymore these days- and he had not expected her to ask him that.

"Would you please be my boyfriend for five minutes?" The girl repeated. "Please, just go with this, okay? I only need a few minutes of your time, and then I'll be out of your hair forever. I'll even pay you for it if need be." At this point she reached into her pocket and was about to pull out some money, when Draco stopped her.

"I'll do it." The words came out of his mouth before he could even stop them. He didn't know why he was agreeing to this. The girl clearly didn't know who he was, and he had no business getting involved in anyone else's life as a result of his past, yet he had agreed to this. Perhaps it was because he hadn't spent much time with another human being outside of his home for who knew how long at this point, because Draco certainly didn't, or, he told himself, perhaps he was simply bored and since there was nothing better for him to do here and he didn't feel like going home just yet, why not?

Maybe his pride had got the better of him when she actually started pulling out money; he was a Malfoy, and even though their reputation may be ruined, they still had an infamous amount of wealth. Couldn't she tell just by looking at his clothes that he didn't need any money? Or maybe he had been so intrigued by this bizarre request that he was curious and wanted to learn more. Not that he would admit that out loud though, if that was one reason.

Whatever the reason, Draco had agreed, and the girl was saying to him now, "Oh, thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me. Oh, thank you!"

Draco nodded, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the girl's reaction; however he hid his slight discomposure with his usual cool demeanor. "Well, what's your name? If I'm your boyfriend, I would hope that I know your name." He asked sneeringly.

"My name's Astoria Greengrass," Astoria replied, smiling at Draco. Her smile, he noticed, was composed of full pink lips and pearly white teeth. No one had smiled like that at him in years.

"I'm 18 years old, although I will be turning 19 on June 5th-"

"That's my birthday." Draco interrupted before he could stop himself. As he looked at her, he realized why those eyes seemed so familiar: Daphne Greengrass had those same eyes; they were practically the trademark symbol of the Greengrass'.

Astoria blinked. "Really? What a coincidence! What's your name?"

Draco thought a moment before answering. If he told her his real name, it would not end well. She might even get him kicked out of the pub, or create a scene.

"Wayne Hopkins," He decided. The name sounded vaguely familiar; Draco believed he was a Hufflepuff in his year that he never paid much attention to. However, if he had played an important role in the war, Draco would remember him, so being as he only remembered vaguely going to school with him, he figured that most likely the girl would not already know who that was.

Astoria nodded, evidently believing him. "How old are you Wayne?"

"21," Draco answered. "I will be 22 years old on June 5th. Do you have any siblings Green- I mean, Astoria?" He corrected himself. If he was going to pretend to be Astoria's boyfriend, it would probably be inappropriate for him to address her by her surname.

"Yes, I have an older sister who was in Slytherin whose your age. Did you go to Hogwarts? If you did, you probably know her. What House were you in at Hogwarts if you went there? What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies? Do you have any siblings? What do you-"

"Astoria," Draco interrupted hero once again. Evidently this girl had a tendency to ramble.

"Oh, sorry."She mumbled. "I guess I didn't really give you a chance to talk, huh? I'm _always _doing that, it's a habit I have that I do when I'm worried, excited nervous, or- oh sorry! It's your turn to speak, I'll be quiet now."

"Thank you." Draco said in a quelling sort of voice, though on the inside he could not help but feel slightly… what was it, amused? He hadn't felt amused about anything in years. "I was in Hufflepuff, I know your sister, I am an only child, and I am a Potioneer." Draco did not know whether or not Wayne had any siblings, but to be safe he decided to say he had none, so this way he would not have to make up any more information than necessary. He had chosen that career because it was a subject he had much experience in. " I make potions for a living in an apothecary my family owns. I run the whole business really, and have been rather successful. What about you? "

"Oh gosh, that's impressive," Said Astoria and for the first time in a long while, Draco felt his chest swell up with pride. " I was in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, and right now I'm in training to be an Auror."

Draco felt his back stiffen as he felt Astoria's arm linked with his own. An Auror? As in, _a dark wizard catcher? _He knew Astoria most likely would be unable to arrest him because he had not done anything that could cause him to get arrested recently, however if he slipped up tonight and somehow offended her with her knowing his identity… things could turn very nasty indeed. However, he had already agreed to help her, and if he backed out now, she might become suspicious and realize who he was.

"Well, I'll go introduce you to my friends," Astoria informed him as they made their way to the front of the pub.

**Please review! Will Astoria's friends recognize Draco? Will the plan actually work? What will happen next? Until next time… please review~! :) **


	2. we go to the same tooth healer

**Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, added this story to favorites or story alerts so much!* hands out cyber cake* The names of Astoria's friends in this chapter are derived from**** Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire****, during the Sorting. Also, the blood status of any of the characters from the book that I used are never explicitly stated, so I just made that part up. The beginning of this chapter takes place a little before last chapter and then goes back to the present…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this story. Nor do I own the book and movie this story was inspired by. I also do not own the reference ****from What's Up Doc****? Or the movie itself. **

Chapter 2:We go to the Same Tooth Helaer

**A short while ago ago…**

_Astoria waited outside the gates to Hogwarts as she waited for Orla Quirke. When the Carrows had taken over Hogwarts several years ago, Orla had been unable to attend Hogwarts due to her Muggle-born blood status. After the war, Orla returned to Hogwarts but had to stay back an extra year while all of her friends from before were able to graduate. Orla was now a seventh year while all of her friends had left Hogwarts last year, however they still found time to hang out with each other._

_Such as tonight, for instance. Hogwarts students had the day off from school that day, due to it being the four-year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. It was a three-day weekend, and tonight Orla would join her friends to celebrate the occasion. As Astoria waited, she checked her watch. Orla was supposed to have met her ten minutes ago. _

_A moment later a rather short witch came running towards her that Astoria recognized as Orla. "I'm sorry I'm late," Orla apologized, panting. "The feast went on longer than I had expected it to." _

"_It's fine," Assured Astoria, before taking in Orla's outfit. Orla was currently wearing skin tight Muggle leggings, a frilly white blouse with a plunging neckline, and her makeup was applied far too heavily for Astoria's liking. Astoria did give Orla credit for at least wearing an open jean jacket with the low-cut blouse though. _

"_Orla… are you sure you want to go out looking like that?" Astoria questioned hesitantly._

"_Oh, right!" Orla slapped herself on the forehead. "I forgot; I need to Transfigure these shoes into high heels…"_

_And with that being said, Orla Transfigured her sneakers into high heels. Orla then put her wand back in her hair. Orla wore her Charmed platinum blonde hair (in reality it was really mousy brown) up in a knot that rested atop her head, held in place with her wand and silver bobby pins. _

"_You know full well what I mean," Astoria informed her sternly, or at least, as sternly as Astoria could ever attempt to be with Orla in the hopes of getting Orla to listening to her. "Do you really want to wear that… outfit?" _

"_Yes Mum, I'm sure" Orla teased as they made their way into Hogsmeade. Astoria and Orla were as different as day and night, despite both being Ravenclaws at school and being best friends. Astoria currently adorned a sky colored short-sleeved medium length dress that went just above the knee and contrasted greatly with Orla's… get up. Orla had a very outgoing personality, particularly when it came to fashion, and preferred flashy clothing .She treated make up as though it were a very expressive form of art work that rested upon her face like a canvas with paint on it, creating a painting that just seemed to come alive. Astoria very rarely wore makeup, being as she did not feel it was necessary. _

"_Did you have anything to drink before now?" Astoria interrogated Orla._

"_Yes," Said Orla." Pumpkin juice. Oh, don't look at me like that; I honestly haven't had any alcohol to drink all day." _

_Astoria looked into her friend's blue-gray eyes and could sense that she was telling the truth. "You have to promise me that you will not get drunk tonight. That means no more than one or two or maybe even three drinks for tonight; and that means not having that all at once, not gulping everything down, taking small sips, and drinking _with_ food. By doing those things you won't get drunk, and-"_

"_Chillax Astoria," Orla rolled her eyes. "Jeez, just because you never touch a drop-even though it's perfectly legal for you to- doesn't mean we all have to."_

"_You'd still be able to have a decent amount to drink and- what does "chillax" mean?"_

"_It's a combination of the words chill and relax," Orla replied matter of factly. "Anyway, I promise _I_ won't get drunk tonight, okay? Ooh, I think I see Stewart up ahead!" Orla squealed. _

_Orla was currently dating fellow Ravenclaw at Hogwarts Stewart Ackerley, who had been able to graduate with Astoria; as a result of his half blood status, Stewart was able to attend Hogwarts during his fourth year unlike Orla, and was currently working outside of Hogwarts, but he took Orla on dates on weekends, and they corresponded by owl post. _

"_How's your love life doing Astoria?" Orla smirked. Astoria twitched. She and Orla were good friends, but Orla could really get on Astoria's nerves sometimes, not that she would ever admit it. Orla occasionally teased Astoria for having had very little romances throughout her time at school up until now. Orla did not have any malicious intent when she did this; it simply could become very tiring after a while._

_Astoria ignored Orla and walked towards their friends, who were standing outside of The Three Broomsticks. "Hi Laura, Stewart, Kevin." _

"_Hello Astoria, Orla," Laura Madley beamed as she saw her friends. Laura was a half-blood witch with long carrot colored hair and her eyes consisted of two silvery blue orbs. Laura's boyfriend Kevin Whitby exchanged greetings with Astoria while Stewart and Orla proceeded to snog each other senseless._

"_Do you two really have to do that in public?" Astoria asked after Stewart and Orla had been kissing for approximately five minutes. Kevin mimed gagging and throwing up, causing Laura and Astoria to laugh. Thankfully, Laura and Kevin did not have snogging sessions in public; Astoria was perfectly fine with the idea of kissing, it just seemed to her that one shouldn't carry on like that in public. A kiss on the check or a quick peck on the lips was one thing, but honestly, sometimes it was embarrassing to be around Orla and Stewart when they behaved like this. _

_Actually, come to think of it, Orla had for as long as Astoria had remembered, behaved like this with all of her boyfriends while they were at Hogwarts. Orla had had several boyfriends before Stewart, though she never dated more than one boy at a time. _

_Orla pulled away from Stewart glaring and then sneered at Astoria. "Well what about you, Astoria? Alone _again_?" _

"_Actually, I'm planning on meeting up here with someone." Astoria didn't know what had caused the fib to come out of her mouth, it just happened. Maybe she had had enough of Orla's taunting for once. Meanwhile everyone in the group was looking astonished. _

_Orla looked the most surprised of all, but she regained her composure very quickly, asking,"Oh, really? Who?"_

"_He's right inside" Astoria improvised quickly. "Let's go in, shall we?" Astoria's friends nodded, and entered the pub. Upon entering, Astoria scanned the room quickly looking for someone around their age who might actually play along with being her boyfriend. _

_What was I thinking? Astoria wondered panicked. There's no way this will work. I'm going to end up making a fool out of myself…_

_Her eyes soon rested on a young man sitting in a corner of the pub. Astoria probably would not have noticed he was there had it not been for the fact that this man was exceptionally noticeable, with his blonde hair so light it was almost the color of snow (more impressive still was that for some reason Astoria suspected that it might actually be is natural hair color, unlike Orla's), his pale skin, and steely gray eyes made him stand out from the crowd. _

_He was the first person she noticed who looked to be close to her age group, so she walked towards him, heart pounding in her chest; Astoria had often times felt herself become shy when talking to strangers, particularly when it came to dealing with boys. Astoria could not help but notice as she moved closer he seemed to have a very stand-offish air about him and started to rethink her decision; perhaps she should try someone else, there were plenty of young wizards in the pub, after all. _

_Then she remembered Orla's mocking tone of voice, and how if he agreed, the look on Orla's face would surely be priceless at the sight of this handsome, slightly older looking man, with a mysterious aura about him being with Astoria. Besides, there was more to it than just that. Astoria had a feeling- no, an instinct- that she _needed_ to talk to this man. That something big would happen as a result, and that whatever that thing was it was vital that she asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend…_

**End of flashback/Present **

As Draco and Astoria made their way to the front of the pub, Draco had a sinking feeling in his gut. What if her friends recognized him?

"Hello everyone, this is my boyfriend, Wayne Hopkins." Astoria introduced Draco to the rather stunned looking group. "Wayne, this is Orla Quirke," Here she motioned towards a girl with blonde hair that Draco was 99% sure was not her natural hair color. She looked as shocked as he felt.

Quirke... Why was that name so familiar? Then Draco remembered a story his father had told him as a child. The Quirke's had actually used to be a pure-blood family until several generations ago when one of the family married a Muggle. A Squib was born instead of a wizard, who then proceeded to marry another Muggle, and over time the Quirkes became a Muggle family. Orla Quirke was a Muggle –Born as a result.

"This is Stewart," Here she pointed to a boy with curly dirty blonde and brown eyes. "Hello," Stewart replied, holding out his hand for Draco to shake, which he did. It felt strange to shake someone's hand to Draco, being as no one had offered to in years.

"This Kevin,"

"Hi there!" Kevin chirped friendlily, shaking Draco's hand eagerly. He had matching warm brown eyes and hair.

"And this is Laura Madley," Astoria finished.

Laura stared at Draco for a moment, and he worried that she recognized him as a Death Eater, but she must not have, for she said," Hi Wayne, it's nice to meet you!"

Draco was relieved; maybe this whole crazy thing might work out after all. The group then made their way over to a table and sat down, looking at menus and deciding what they should eat. Draco had already had his dinner, so he decided he would just have one shot of Firewhiskey. Everyone else was planning on ordering food with their drinks. A waiter came by and took their orders. The waiter stared at Draco for a moment, but said nothing to him.

"I'll have one Firewhiskey," Draco sneered. The waiter fixed a beady eyed stare at him but said nothing a he wrote down the order.

"One Butterbeer please," Said Stewart.

"I'd like to have a Butterbeer as well," Said Kevin.

"Likewise," Agreed Laura.

"I'll go back to the start of this cycle and have one Firewhiskey," Orla informed the waiter. "But please don't bring it out until the food is ready, or else my mum-"Here she pointed to Astoria. "Will have a fit if I get drunk or anything. Is there anything else I'm forgetting Mum?"

"Wait, I'm your mum now?" Astoria blinked. "What date, time, and location did THAT happen?"

There were some chuckles from around the table. Draco felt his lips twitch slightly.

"Okay, I would like one milk please," Astoria told the waiter, who after finishing taking everyone's orders left.

"So, Wayne, did you got to Hogwarts?" Laura asked him casually.

Draco nodded. "Yes."

"What House were you in?" Laura inquired.

"Hufflepuff," Lied Draco smoothly. He had always been rather good at lying.

"That's funny, I was in Hufflepuff too," Laura mused. "I don't recall ever seeing you around the common room though…"

"Well, we weren't in the same year," Draco replied. "When did you graduate?"

"Last year," Laura answered. " And you?"

"Nearly four years ago," Draco answered. "It would make sense that we never met each other before now, being as I was three years ahead of you and I didn't interact much with younger students…"

Laura nodded, evidently satisfied by this answer. "Now that I think about it, your name does sound familiar…"

"Yeah, it does" Kevin agreed, and then added to Draco," I was in Hufflepuff too, the same year as everyone else here. It'd make sense since you're a few years older that you seem so familiar but we've never met before now…"

"Yeah," Draco feigned a nonchalant chuckle, though on the inside he was quite amazed and relieved that no one had found him out yet. "It's funny how things work out like that…"

The waiter arrived with their drinks. Draco had a sneaking suspicion that the waiter had been watching him the entire time.

"So Wayne, Astoria, how do you to know each other?" Orla questioned curiously.

This was one thing he and Astoria had not gone over when they were talking earlier: Somehow, they had forgotten to come up with a back story about how they had met.

"We-" Draco began, but Astoria finished for him.

"We have the same Tooth Healer*," Astoria said.

Draco stared at her for a moment, before answering slowly," Yes… er, he's, eh, very good."

There was an exchange of odd looks among the group, before conversation returned to normal. After that, Draco was not asked too many questions. He learned about Astoria's friends. He learned that Stewart was currently working in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes in the Ministry of Magic that Laura was in training to be a Healer, and that Kevin was working in The Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Eventually the food came, and Draco found he actually was enjoying himself a bit. It had been years since he had ate out with friends, and here he could pretend to be anyone he wanted to be.

Laura leaned over to Astoria and whispered in her ear,"* Meet me under the table in five minutes."

"What?"

"Oh my Goodness, there goes my napkin," Laura muttered, dropping her napkin on the floor and went under the table to retrieve it. Astoria followed suit.

"Okay, what did you want to talk about?" Asked Astoria. "And why did we have to go under the table to do it?"

"Astoria, accompany me to the restroom in five minutes okay, I need to talk to you in private."

"What do you-"

"Are you girls okay under there?" Kevin had come down to join them.

"What's all this?" Stewart peered under the table.

"Hey, don't leave me out of this!" Orla giggled, crawling out of her chair onto the floor.

"If you five would please come up for air now," Draco's voice came from above them.

Everyone came back up and acted as if that little exchange had never happened.

Five minutes later, Astoria followed Laura into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Okay Laura, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"It's your boyfriend, Astoria," Laura whispered looking around to make sure that they would not be overheard. "I think… I recognize him. I think… he was a Death Eater."

***I don't know what the Wizarding version of a dentist is, so I just came up with that. If anyone knows the proper name in the canon- because I would assume that wizards and witches need dentists too- please tell me. **

***This is a reference from a movie known as ****What's Up Doc. **

**How do you think will Astoria react to Laura's declaration? How suspicious do you think everyone is, or do they all- except for Laura- believe Draco? What will happen to Draco if he is found out?**

**Please review ! :D**


	3. Acts of Assertiveness

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, added to favorites or story alerts so much! *Hands out cyber ice cream.*Also, I did not come up with the joke at the beginning, and I do not know who came up with it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this story. Nor do I own the book and movie this story was inspired by. Nor do I own the joke at the beginning. **

Chapter 3: Acts and Assertiveness

Orla Quirke was rather entertaining, for a Mudblood, Draco found himself thinking as she downed the last of her second glass of firewhiskey.

"Wayne, ask me how many Dumbledores it takes to light up a wand?" Orla giggled.

"How many Dumbledores does it take to light up a wand?" Draco played along.

"We'll have to settle with one, the other is too busy practicing spells on a goat."Orla quipped and the table laughed.

"You know Wayne, I was surprised when Astoria introduced us," Orla began but was distracted as she saw their waiter pass by."Hey waiter, I'm going to need another Firewhiskey, please?"

The waiter nodded and Orla giggled at the prospect of another drink.

"Why were you surprised?" Draco enquired.

"She's such a prude-"Orla stopped talking suddenly and smiled, waving at a person behind him, exclaiming," Hello Astoria!"

Draco turned around and saw Astoria and Laura had returned, taking their seats. Draco wondered whether or not Astoria had heard Orla talking about her. He didn't find out though, because right at that moment Orla grabbed Stewart by the arm and lead him onto the dance floor, despite the fact that dessert had not even arrived yet.

"Wayne, have you met Astoria's sister Daphne?" Laura solicited sweetly.

Draco nodded. "Of course, she was in my year." _Not to mention in my House._ He added silently.

"Have you met her parents yet?" Laura continued.

"No," Draco answered, knowing that if he lied and said yes, than Laura may ask about them and he would not know how to respond.

"But he's going to any day now," Astoria added, smiling at Draco. "Aren't you Wayne?"

"Yes," Draco agreed smoothly.

"Do you know what Daphne's doing now that she's graduated?" Laura went on.

"Of course he knows, Laura," Astoria answered for Draco, laughing. "He knows all about how she's a Healer now and is your instructor."

Dessert soon arrived. Orla and Stewart were still on the dance floor when dessert came and the rest of the group devoured their food.

Once the two of them had finished eating, Astoria stood up."Wayne, do you want to dance?"

Draco was slightly surprised- though certainly not displeased- by this; no one had asked him that in years. He nodded curtly and stood up with Astoria, walking over to the dance floor.

The two danced for another half hour or so. Astoria turned out to be quite good, as was Draco, being as he had received dancing lessons growing up. Draco found out that he and Astoria had similar tastes in music, being as several times whenever a song would play he and Astoria shared a similar opinion about the song or the singer or the band playing it.

Once they sat down for a break, Astoria whispered to Draco, "You know, I heard a rumor that The Weird Sisters would be playing here tonight. Right now it's about 9:00P.M., and I heard that they'd be playing here around 9:15P.M. I heard someone saying they were setting up in the backroom right now. Do you want to go in and see them before anyone else does?"

Ordinarily Draco would have come up with some excuse as to why they shouldn't- he'd ordinarily be cautious and worried about being found out as a Death Eater- but maybe it was because he was having more fun than he'd had in God knows how long, maybe it was the Firewhiskey in him talking, or maybe it was simply the eager look in Astoria's bright green eyes, but instead of arguing with her, he found himself saying nonchalantly," If you really want to."

Astoria's face lit up, and Draco felt rather smug at the knowledge that he was the one who had caused the expression of pure delight to spread across her face for some reason.

Astoria took Draco by the hand grinning, and walked him over to the back of the pub, where there was a door, and Astoria led him inside.

It was a very small and crowded room that was completely pitch black. Draco was about to use his wand to light up the room so that he could see, but his wand was taken from him when someone whispered, "_Expelliarmus!" _

He recognized the owner of that voice: Astoria Greengrass. He was about to open his mouth to demand what was going on, but Astoria spoke first.

"_Lumos." _ The room became a bit brighter so that Draco could have a better view of what was going on. Draco found that they were not in a room, but in a coat closet, and that Astoria had his wand tucked back within her raven curls, and she had her own wand with its illuminated tip pointed straight at him, and her other hand was placed firmly on his shoulders. He also found that she had cast a nonverbal Binding Curse on him that had him tied to coats in the closet if one looked very close. Had it not been for the rather intimidating and angry expression on her face, he would have thought this to be some ploy to get him alone for a snog, but it evidently wasn't.

"Astoria-"

"You listen to me, and listen very, very well," Astoria spoke in a calm yet deadly sort of voice. "I know who you are, Draco Malfoy."

Draco was shocked that he had been found out. "How-"

"I realized about half way through dinner," Astoria interrupted him coolly. "I happen to be an Auror in training, remember? I've studied the faces of former Death Eaters for homework. Of course I'd recognize you sooner or later. When Laura and I left the table, she confirmed my suspicions about you. I will let you know now that if you have any intentions of harming anyone here you better confess now, or so help me I will have the entire Auror Department here within a matter of minutes, and the things we will do to you will make you wish you actually _had_ gone to Azkaban. Do I make myself clear?"

Astoria's tone was threatening, and Draco felt his blood run cold when she talked like that. However, as a Malfoy and a former Slytherin, he had been trained not to show fear. "Crystal," He responded."I had no intention of harming anyone in this pub, Miss Greengrass, and it would be much appreciated if you as well as the rest of the Wizarding world were to get it into their heads that I am not going to kill someone for just looking at me strangely. When I came here tonight, I came here merely to eat my dinner and celebrate along with everyone else that the Dark Lord is dead."

"If you are really as innocent as you claim to be, Mr. Malfoy," Astoria continued, wand still pointed at him. "Why did you lie to me?"

Draco decided that in this instance, honesty was the best policy. It was time to come clean.

"I thought you would arrest me if you knew who I really was."

Astoria nodded, looking as though she were about to lower her wand for a moment, but kept it up, asking, "Well if that's the case, why did you agree to help me in the first place?"

Draco thought about this for a moment. Why did he? He did not know.

"I-"

Right at that moment, the door burst open and Stewart and Orla stood before them. Orla was hanging on to Stewart, an empty wine glass in her hand.

"Oops!" She giggled, before realizing who she was seeing. Astoria lowered her wand hastily. "Astoria! Fancy seeing you here, and not alone! Were you two in the middle of something?"

Astoria blushed, losing her threatening persona earlier entirely. "I- we- we weren't-"

"Oooooh, Astoria!" Orla slurred. "I never thought this day would come. You with a boyfriend, and Stewart and I walking in on you two in a closet!"

"Er, Orla," Stewart tugged on her jacket sleeve uncomfortably. "Maybe we should go somewhere else-"

"Is this going to be your first kiss Astoria?" Orla asked, sincerely. "I wouldn't be surprised. You know, I think this Wayne bloke is going to be a good influence on you. Maybe you'll get her to stop being so uptight, eh, Wayne? What with all of her principles on drinking and never letting people have fun-"

"Orla, you're drunk again, aren't you?" Astoria deduced warily. She did not sound mad, much to Draco's surprise, despite the fact that her best friend was publically insulting her. Well, he didn't know if he and her other friend counted as public, but still.

"Maybe," Orla laughed. "Honestly, you worry too much Tori."

"Orla, you _promised_ me this wouldn't happen again." Astoria sighed pitifully.

Stewart looked even more uncomfortable now. "I'll go find some place to lie her down so she doesn't do anything she'll regret. "

"She doesn't have alcohol poisoning or anything, does she?" Astoria wondered concern laced in her voice.

"No," Stewart assured her. "She is, as you deduced earlier, drunk though. Not anywhere near drunk enough for alcohol poisoning, but still drunk never the less."

"Oh." Astoria looked worried.

"Don't worry about her Astoria," Stewart comforted gently. "I'll keep an eye on her; she'll be fine. You just forget about this and have a good time. "

Stewart walked off with Orla, leaving the closet door open. Astoria undid the Binding Curse she had placed on Draco and walked out. Draco followed her, closing the door behind him.

"Does she tease you like that often?" Draco broke the silence. He had a suspicion that this was the reason why Astoria had asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend in the first place.

"Occasionally," Astoria replied after a moment's pause. "Orla… she can't hold her liquor very well, and sometimes she acts like this when she's drunk. She can't help it, really, and she really is a lot of fun and really amusing when she's not… saying things like that."

"But wasn't she a bit rude to you before she even got drunk?" Draco reminded her.

"If you're talking about that thing she said when I was coming back with Laura-" _So she had heard her,_ Draco thought- "I'm pretty certain she was already at least slightly tipsy."

"Actually I meant before she even drank any alcohol," Said Draco. "The way she was talking made me think you two have had problems about this before tonight, not that it's any of my business."

Astoria did not answer.

"Why didn't you attempt to stand up to her?" Draco continued."I know for a fact that you are perfectly capable of doing so."

He recalled her behavior in the closet a moment ago. Yes, Astoria Greengrass certainly could be assertive- or even as far as aggressive perhaps- if need be.  
"She was drunk," Astoria defended. "She wasn't in total control of her brain. I'm sure she wasn't even aware of what she was saying. Besides, if I got mad at her it might have made things worse since she was intoxicated."

"Well, do you stand up to her when she's not drunk?"When Astoria answered Draco with silence, he took that as meaning 'no'.

"You're a rather good actress, you know," Draco commented offhandedly to break the loud silence between them."You honestly had me believe that The Weird Sisters were back there and that you never once suspected me."

"It's part of the training," Astoria explained."Part of being an Auror is being able to fool your enemy if need be. The acting classes are so fun, it's really amazing. It's difficult studying to be an Auror, but it's a lot of fun, and I'm sure it will all be worth it once I finally become one, and-Oh! I'm not planning on arresting you or anything, I believe you. You seemed sincere when you talked to me a moment ago, and we've had training in becoming Aurors, in order to know whether or not our enemy is lying to us, not that I consider you my enemy anymore- actually, I never really considered you to be my enemy anyway, I had a feeling you were reformed, or at least in the process of reforming, but I had to watch you, you see, to make sure you weren't going to hurt anyone- oh! I just realized, here's your wand, I forgot to give it back to you."

Astoria finally stopped rambling and gave Draco back his wand.

"Thank you." The words felt strange on his tongue, being as he didn't say them very often.

"You're welcome!" Astoria beamed, and then looked at her watch. "You know, I wasn't lying about The Weird Sisters earlier, they really are supposed to be here tonight, I heard. That's the main reason my friends and I chose to celebrate in this pub, actually. The Weird Sisters like to randomly throw these secret performances sometimes and my friends and I had heard a rumor that they'd be here tonight. They should be here any minute now."

Astoria went back to talking to Draco about her Auror training, which Draco found to be surprisingly quite interesting, even though it sounded very difficult. Astoria asked Draco questions about himself, and he answered them honestly this time, but he found that it was more fun to listen to Astoria prattle on about anything, really. The idea that this witch he had met only a couple of hours ago knew who he was and still wanted to talk to him gave him a feeling he rarely experienced these days: Happiness.

Eventually a thought occurred to him."Do all of the others know who I really am?"

"I'm pretty sure Stewart and Orla don't," Astoria thought about it for a moment."But Laura knows, and if she knows, then she probably told Kevin."

Astoria then checked her watch. It was 9:30P.M. and The Weird Sisters had still not shown up.

Astoria sighed. "Oh well, it looks like they're not coming."

"I'm afraid so," Draco agreed, although he was not particularly upset by this. He liked The Weird Sisters as much as the next wizard, but he'd much rather talk to someone who wasn't afraid of him and because of this he wasn't too disappointed that they hadn't come. Or perhaps it was because he had experienced so many much greater disappointments in his life that he didn't even mind little things like this anymore.

"It looks like we're going to have to look for them somewhere else," Astoria broke Draco's train of thought.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're leaving?" He did not want to be left alone again for some reason.

"Yeah, sorry, "Astoria confirmed. "But I know they will be playing somewhere tonight, and my friends and I are determined to see them perform. I'll Owl you sometime, unless you want to come with us? I'm perfectly fine with that, -"

Right at that moment Stewart ran up to them, looking worried.

"Have either of you seen Orla anywhere?"

They shook their heads.

"Oh no," Stewart groaned."I think she's missing."

**Cliffhanger! Where did Orla go? What's going to happen next? Pretty please review! :D **


	4. Orla Quirke:Missing in Action

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, added to favorites or story alerts! *Hands out cyber cookies.* Here's where we left off last time: Astoria knows who Draco is now, although we don't know how many of her friends do, and Orla apparently has just gone missing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this story. Nor do I own the book and movie this story was inspired by.**

Chapter 4: Orla Quirke; Missing In Action

"Missing!" Astoria moaned. "Are you sure? Are you positive she still isn't in the pub and you just missed her?"

"Positive," Stewart croaked. "I've been looking all over for her. I've looked in broom closets, behind the bar, on the dance floor, in the loos. I've checked upstairs and down. I can check again if you want though. Maybe if we're lucky I did just miss her in the crowd or something." Stewart sounded doubtful despite this sentence being arguably a fair possibility in most cases.

"Is there anywhere you didn't check?" Astoria inquired sharply.

"Well, I didn't check the ladies restroom, now that I think about it." Stewart said thoughtfully. "But that's it."

"Let's hope she's there." Astoria sighed. "I'll go see if she's in there. Meanwhile, you should go find the others and tell them. I'll let you know if I find her."

Astoria walked into the nearest women's room and proceeded to search for Orla.

"Come with me, Wayne. Let's tell everyone she's missing."Stewart suggested.

Draco, having nothing else to do at the moment, went with him. After a few minutes they found Laura and Kevin talking about something; over the music Draco couldn't hear what about, although he suspected it had to do with him, judging by how they instantly stopped talking when they saw him.

"Orla's gone missing," Stewart informed them. "Have you seen her anywhere?"

"No," the two former Hufflepuffs chorused nervously.

Astoria walked over to them. "I didn't find her anywhere. Has anyone else been able to find her yet?"

"No." Everyone responded.

"Okay, let's think. Where was the last place we saw Orla?" Astoria pondered aloud.

Astoria and Draco both remembered when they had last seen Orla: When she and Stewart had walked in on them in the closet. Stewart indicated a look telling them they didn't need to tell Laura and Kevin that if they were uncomfortable with that.

"I last saw Orla when we were dancing on the dance floor, "Piped up Laura. "But I wasn't really paying attention, so I think I probably haven't seen her for at least half an hour; probably more. What about you Kevin?"

"The same," He replied.

"I last saw Orla when I laid her down on one of the sofas upstairs- she was drunk and I thought she should lie down and stay out of trouble- I was planning on staying with her until we either had to leave or when she sobered up, when I suddenly _really_ needed to take a leak. You know that feeling when you _really_ have to-"

"We get it Stewart," Astoria heroically interrupted. "You went to the bathroom and what happened when you got out?"

"She was gone." Stewart finished. "I was only gone for a couple of minutes though. I don't think she could have gotten too far." He sounded dubious despite this claim.

"Let's all check the building again," Astoria decided. "And let's be sure to ask people if they've seen her. If we still don't find her… we search outside. In either scenario, I agree with Stewart: In her intoxicated state I don't think she could have gone very far."

"What are you going to do once we find her?" Draco asked. "You wanted to continue looking for the Weird Sisters, but suppose we lose her again? We need to find a safe space for her to be in where we know-"Here he looked at Stewart, who stared at the floor sheepishly."That there is no possibility of losing her. "

" In fairness to Stewart, it was unlikely she would have up and left but since she did, someone or probably more than one person should be with her at all times once we find her. Well, we can't take her back to Hogwarts until she's sober," Astoria supplied. "If the teachers find her drunk she can get in a lot of trouble; maybe even get suspended."

An idea struck Draco. "Actually, maybe we can."

Everyone looked at Draco for explanation. _Kids, _he thought to himself before explaining," There is a room at Hogwarts known as the Room of Requirement that can be entered through The Hog's Head. When we find Orla, we can sneak her into the Room of Requirement and keep her there until she is sober. The room can only be accessed if people know exactly what they are looking for, and the odds of someone asking the room while it's in use to allow them to enter a room where a drunk girl is resting is very slim. "

Everyone stared at Draco in stunned silence for a moment before Astoria spoke.

"That," she said appreciatively."Is. Brilliant." She looked as though she could kiss him. If she did, Draco decided, he would let her.

And thus, the search party for the drunken girl began.

* * *

After twenty minutes of nonstop searching, they were unable to find Orla Quirke anywhere within the Three Broomsticks.

"We'll have to search outside then," Said Astoria.

"One of should stay here in case she comes back or somehow actually is still here," Said Kevin.

"How about Wayne, Astoria?" Laura suggested in what could be an innocent tone of voice had Draco not already known she knew who he was; she was trying to keep her friends safe from the Death Eater. He was not angry with her about that, even though he disliked it when people assumed he was still dangerous; she was just trying to protect people she cared about, which in a way was not unlike what he was thinking of when he took the mark all those years ago, and he had to admit this: It was a very clever of protecting your friends. She was protecting them in a way that the group was oblivious to, and he might have been ignorant of if he hadn't already realized what she was doing: She could disguise it as trying to find Orla, but still manage to keep herself as well as her friends away from him. He had to give her credit; that was very clever indeed.

"Well, we need Wayne to show us where the Room of Requirement is, so he should go with us." Astoria reminded Laura.

"I think I should come too," Laura opinionated. "I'm learning about how to be a Healer, so if – Heaven forbid- she's injured or anything, although I highly doubt she is, I can Heal her. Also, I think Astoria should come too. She knows Orla the best and would be very helpful."

"I'd like to come too," Kevin added.

That left Stewart, who objected, "I'm sorry but I'm the one who lost her in the first place. What sort of boyfriend would I be if I just sat around and did nothing while my girlfriend's missing whilst being intoxicated? Sure, she might come here, but as I am the one most responsible for this situation, shouldn't I be out there looking for her?"

"I can stay behind," Kevin volunteered.

"Okay, thanks Kevin. "Laura took something out of her purse that Draco had never seen before. It was black and small and said T-Mobile on the front in hot pink letters. "Do you have your cell phone with you?"

"Yeah," Kevin pulled a silver colored contraption that looked similar to Laura's 'cell phone', as she called it.

"I have mine too," Astoria mentioned.

"If anyone finds Orla, you have to call us and tell us where you are." Laura informed them all.

"What are those?" Draco had to ask, motioning towards the cell phones.

"Cell phones," Stewart explained. "They're Muggle devices used as communication tools."

"Oh," Draco tried not to sneer. Muggle objects still made him slightly uncomfortable, despite the fact he was no longer very prejudiced anymore. Draco was not a blood traitor, but he wasn't much of a blood purist anymore. He was uncomfortable around Muggle technology and had no interest in their culture, but he could be in the same room as a Muggle or Muggle-Born without insulting them. He acknowledged his actions in the war were wrong, although in his mind he would still occasionally use the word Mudblood, but never aloud.

If someone were to ask him who would he marry and what blood status would they have, he would have said that in the unlikely scenario he ever got married or even had a real date with a girl-real date meaning not one where he and the girl were only pretending to be in a relationship- he'd prefer someone pureblood, however all he cared about at this point was finding someone who didn't totally hate him for his crimes in the past but didn't approve of them either, and who was willing to be with him. As if that would ever happen.

* * *

Astoria, Draco, Laura, and Stewart made their way outside of the Three Broomsticks.

"Let's start looking at The Hog's Head."Astoria offered. "If she turns out to be there we'll be killing two birds with one stone, as they say, being as the entrance to the Room of Requirement will be there too. Lord, how I detest that expression, killing two birds with one stone; it's cruelty to animals and not at all a pleasant thought! I wonder who came up with that expression-"

"Astoria."Draco cut her off before she could start rambling. "You can talk all you like about ridiculous expressions later, but how about we find Orla first before she goes any farther."

"Right." Astoria agreed. They made their way over to the Hog's Head and went inside the dingy pub, looking around and asking the barkeeper, Aberforth Dumbledore, though they did not realize it at the time, if he had seen Orla anywhere. They found the passageway connecting to the Room of Requirement. Unbeknownst to them, the passageway actually had been destroyed during the Battle of Hogwarts, but was rebuilt soon afterwards. They walked through the passageway up until they reached the Room of Requirement. Upon entering the room everyone except for Draco gaped at it, having never been inside before.

"Oh wow, "Astoria breathed. The room had calm soothing green walls with a comfortable looking sofa with soft pillows. Orla, however, was nowhere in sight.

The group of four went back into the tunnel, walked until they reached the end of the passageway, looked around the Hog's Head one last time, and then evacuated the building.

"Okay, where should we look next?" Laura questioned.

"Maybe we should split up," Stewart advised. "This way we can look for Orla in more places at once."

"Astoria and I can go look in Honeydukes while you and Ma- Laura go somewhere else." Draco did not feel like being left alone with Laura or Stewart; Laura knew who he was and though he could not tell whether or not Stewart knew, for some reason he felt that if he had to be alone with any of the three of them he would prefer to be alone with Astoria, because she knew who he was but would not hold that against him. "Astoria and Laura are the only ones with cell phones-"(the word sounded he thought, so strange on his tongue though he tried to keep the tone of disgust out of his voice.)-"so they should be in separate groups so they can call each other if either of them finds the girl."

"Okay," Stewart agreed before Laura could protest. "Let's look in…Madame Puddifoot's, they're holding a celebration tonight so Orla might have been tempted to go in, and it's an ideal location to look being as it is located between The Three Broomsticks, which is where she went missing, and Honeydukes which is where Wayne and Astoria are looking, so if we find her there it won't take very long for us all to reunite. Oh, if The Weird Sisters are playing anywhere and we find them, call us so that after we find Orla we can see them perform. Though obviously of course we would only watch them after we knew Orla was safe."Stewart clarified.

"Remember Astoria, if you find her call us, and if we find her I'll call you." Laura reminded Astoria.

Astoria nodded. "Okay. "

As Laura and Stewart left to explore Madame Puddifoot's, Draco and Astoria made their way over to Honeydukes. The duo was met with elaborate candy displays of all sorts of delicious sweets. There were Cauldron Cakes, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Acid Pops, Sugar Quills, Pixie Puffs, and even Pink Coconut Ice; but there was no Orla Quirke anywhere in sight.

A horrifying thought struck Astoria. "Draco, in the cellar of Honeydukes, there is a passageway that leads back to Hogwarts, correct?"

"Yes." Draco confirmed slowly.

"Do you think there's a possibility that Orla snuck into the cellar, took the passageway to Hogwarts, and is drunk at the school right now?"

Draco opened his mouth to say he thought this was a very unlikely scenario, but someone else spoke instead.

"Astoria."

Draco and Astoria turned around and found themselves standing face to face with Zacharias Smith.

**Another cliffhanger! How does Astoria know Zacharias Smith? Where is Orla? Until next time, please review! :) **


	5. We are Never Ever Getting Back Together

**Once again, thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, added to favorites, or story alerts! *Hands out Thanksgiving leftovers.*And yes, the title of this chapter is a shout out to Taylor Swift's new songs. ;D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this story. Nor do I own the book and movie this story was inspired by.**

Chapter 5: We are never ever ever Getting Back Together

"Astoria." The owner of this voice was none other than Zacharias Smith.

"Oh, Zach," Astoria smiled although Draco suspected it was a rather forced one; he and Zacharias had been in the same year at Hogwarts, and Draco considered him to be one of the most annoying people he had ever met, and quite possibly even more arrogant than he himself had been prior to his becoming a Death Eater, and that was certainly saying something. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were going to be in town tonight, so I figured I might go look for you,"Zach narrowed his eyes at Draco."Astoria, do you know who this is?"

"Yes,"Astoria confirmed. "This is Draco Malfoy, and yes I know about his past, but I met him at The Three Broomsticks a few hours ago- long story- and right now my friend Orla is drunk and missing in action, and Draco is trying to help me find her. Have you seen her anywhere?"

Zacharias gaped at her."Astoria, you are hanging around with a bloody DEATH EATER, who you only met hours ago; what are you thinking, he is _dangerous_! You can't afford to be seen with scum like _him_!" Zacharias's tone possessed a combination of hysterical fear and contempt.

Meanwhile the girl behind the counter had looked up from the magazine-Witch Weekly_-_ she had been reading upon learning that one of her customers was a former Death Eater.

"Zach, he's no longer a Death Eater and he's changed his ways."Astoria attempted to reason.

"You say this after knowing him for only a few hours."Smith spat incredulously. Suddenly he pulled out his wand and pointed it towards Draco."You have her under _Imperio_, don't you?" His voice quivered fearfully as he spoke.

"Evidently you have not grown any more intelligent since we were in school, Smith," Draco snarled. "Why the hell would I Imperius her?"

"Who knows what the likes of you would do to a naïve and helpless weak girl," Smith muttered darkly.

"Zach, this is why things didn't work out between us," Astoria gave an exasperated sigh."I am more than capable of protecting myself; I happen to be in training to be an Auror, remember? I can protect myself better than any typical man, and simply because I am kind to others and try to see the best in people does not make me naïve in any sense of the word."

"You are _still_ in training to be an Auror?"Smith demanded."I didn't think you were serious about pursuing that path. I thought after our last conversation you would have realized the more intelligent decision would be to give it up. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did, "Astoria deadpanned."The last time you saw me. You just wouldn't listen."

"What are you talking about? I'm a fabulous listener!"Smith insisted.

Draco sniggered despite the situation."Oh yes, you certainly are a wonderful listener; if there was a reward for being an excellent listener, you would surely win it."

"Is there a problem over here?"The shopkeeper had nervously come from behind the counter to see what was going on.

"Everything's fine," Astoria assured her."My ex-boyfriend is just overreacting, and poking his nose in places it doesn't belong instead of minding his own business."

"Oh, "the girl nodded knowingly. She looked Smith up and down for a moment."Your ex-boyfriend's looking pretty fine. He doesn't happen to have a girlfriend, does he?"

"Actually I do," Smith smirked."She just is too stubborn to admit she still has feelings for me."

Astoria groaned."Just answer the question, Zach: Have you seen Orla anywhere?"

"I have," Smith acknowledged, a twisted smile playing at his lips.

"And?" Astoria waited.

"I won't tell you where I saw her," Smith replied."Unless you come with me… without _him_." He glared at Draco.

"Zach, you're behaving like a child," Astoria was running out of patience."Why can't you act like an adult for once in your life and just take us both with you to where you found her?"

"Because you're too trusting for your own good," Smith snapped."You go around carelessly thinking you can rely on yourself, but you're wrong; you need someone to protect you or else you'll wind up hanging around with the likes of him, and who knows what will happen to you then?"

Astoria let out a cold laugh."_Protect_ me? You never wanted to protect me Zach; you wanted to _possess_ me. We broke up because you were controlling, and because you only cared about what _you_ wanted, never taking the time to listen to me even _once_! We are never getting back together Zach if you are going to continue to behave like this. If you really want to be with me, why do you keep acting like this? I appreciate you being concerned about me, but you need to understand that-"

"We're leaving!"Smith cut her off, and grabbed her hand forcefully."Why can't you accept the fact you _need_ me, Astoria?"

SMACK! Draco's fist collided with Smith's face, who looked extremely shocked. The girl who worked at the store gasped but did nothing, too scared to know what to do.

"Now you listen to me, "Draco emitted a low growl."We are going to go find Orla Quirke, with or without your help. I think it is safe to say we do not need your assistance if you are going to behave so abhorrently. Now please, get out of my sight."

Smith let out a terrified whimper and ran.

Silence followed this little scene. The shopkeeper ran back to her spot behind the counter, letting out a comical little squeak.

"Well, it doesn't look like she's here," Draco broke the silence. "Where do you want to look next?"

Astoria, though taken aback by his acting so casually as if nothing had just happened, replied," Well, maybe we should try looking at… Zonko's Joke Shop."

Draco nodded and followed Astoria out of the shop. A thought occurred to Draco as they returned to the streets of Hogsmeade."Astoria, how does Smith know your friend?"

"Oh, she was the one who first introduced us to each other," Astoria answered. "A few months ago she set me up on a blind date with him-she's always been very close to her cousin, who's friends with him, so that's how they know each other- I decided to go along with it since she's always pressuring me to get a boyfriend. We went out on a few more dates after that before I realized I didn't want to continue seeing him."

Draco snorted."How did you not realize that right away? He's a complete git, and coming from me, that's saying something."They had now reached the shop and Astoria turned the doorknob, letting them in.

"He's not without good qualities," Astoria defended as they stepped into the shop. "He actually is very loyal and kind once you get to know him. Contrary to what I said back there, I honestly do believe he still cares about me, even though it's been several weeks since I broke up with him. He didn't act rude on our first date; in fact, he was a perfect gentleman, believe it or not."

"_Him_?" Draco said this so loudly people in the shop turned to stare at him.

"Yes," Astoria responded, eyes scanning the crowd for any traces of Orla. "He had chosen a very fancy and expensive restaurant despite not even knowing me, and he paid for everything, even though I offered to pay for my own portion of the meal. He held doors open for me, and pulled out my chair. He wasn't too polite to our waiter, but unfortunately I wasn't thinking about that at the time, although I probably should have; they say, after all, if you really want to know a man, see how he treats his inferiors rather than how he treats his equals.

I remember on our first date he did most of the talking, but I didn't care so much at the time being as he was talking about things I was actually interested in; I found out we're both diehard fans of Puddlemere United and The Weird Sisters. He wasn't the best listener on our first date, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to see him again. Besides, he wasn't a terrible listener the first time and it was possible he could be better next time.

He would always buy me gifts after that, like chocolates and flowers without my asking him to. He was actually very attentive to me, believe it or not. But I could tell it just wasn't going to work out between us. The main issue was that he didn't seem to be able to comprehend that I'm not some damsel in distress who needs to constantly rely on a man: I love sweet things, I adore any and all things cute, I'm sensitive, I cry easily, I am a friend to all children and animals and love taking care of them, I wear skirts and dresses a lot, I like to cook and clean, but that does _not_ in any way shape or form mean I'm not smart and tough and strong too. Unfortunately, he didn't realize this. He actually tried to talk me out of becoming an Auror. He told me if I ever needed money all I had to do was come to him and he would give me it whatever the situation and that I'd never need to work a day in my life. He refused to believe I actually wanted to become an Auror because I actually want to do some good in the world. Actually, he didn't think that as a girl I'd be able to handle the job! That was the last straw; I realized then and there he was sexist and way too arrogant for my tastes.

When I broke up with him, he wouldn't accept the fact I just didn't want to go out with him anymore, and kept insisting I was just "going through a phase" or was so in love with him that _I _was the one who couldn't accept it." Astoria rolled her eyes at this. "But as soon as I realized this was who he was, I ended it right away. Only problem is he still believes we're together. I'm sure he'll give up sooner or later, and it hasn't caused me any strife or anything, but it is kind of annoying how he still keeps chasing after me."

They had moved all over the store at this point, but there was still no sign of Orla.

"Hmm, it doesn't look like she's here either, "Astoria murmured. "Maybe we should try looking at-" But Astoria's voice was cut off by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She hastily answered it."Hello?"

She turned to Draco, her eyes shining. "Draco, they've found her!"

**A/N:A preview for next time: Draco learns how to use a cell phone, and our main characters are in for a surprise…**

**Where is Orla, why does Draco learn how to use a cell phone, and what is the surprise? You'll have to keep reading to find out! In the mean time, please review!:D **


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